Reducing Sick Leave

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Fitzer

Reduce sick leave in your team.

Do you ever get frustrated with workers who call in sick too often? Or are you more concerned about sick people who don't stay at home, and spread illness to other workers?

Sick leave for staff, whether it's used for legitimate or not-so-legitimate reasons, has become a major problem for many organizations and industries worldwide. Each year, it costs companies around the world billions of dollars. What's more, in many countries, public sector workers take a considerably higher proportion of sick days than their private sector counterparts, meaning that it's even more costly for governments and for tax payers.

The United States is unusual among developed countries, because it doesn't require organizations to pay for sick leave, although many state and local governments are now considering the need for legislation in this area. However, some companies are starting to reduce sick pay to offset increased health care insurance costs for their workers.

So what do all of these sick days really cost your company?

Costs of Sick Leave

Sick days delay work, causing projects to fall behind schedule. They create stress for other workers, who must make up for lost productivity. And, because other people may need to work overtime to make up for the time lost, they add to overtime bills.

On the other hand, some workers don't receive sick pay. If they're paid only for the actual hours they work, they may feel they can't afford to stay home when they're sick. If they come to work, they may pass their illness to co-workers. This, in turn, makes the situation much worse, because even more workers then become sick – which can cause more "down time" and increased costs in medical care.

Sick pay policies are generally designed to treat people fairly and discourage abuse, but many workers still don't use them properly. We'll look at the reasons for this, and we'll suggest some practical steps that companies can take to reduce absenteeism.

Causes of Too Much Sick Leave

There are two main reasons for high rates of absenteeism: (1) an abnormal amount of illness, and (2) abuse of the system by workers who call in sick when they're actually perfectly healthy. Causes for one or both of these may be as follows:

• Actual physical or mental illness.
• An unhealthy lifestyle.
• The need to care for family members.
• Personal emotional issues.
• Problems in the workplace, causing avoidance or stress-related illness.
• Lack of understanding of sick leave policies.
• Low job satisfaction and disengagement, often resulting from a low level of control over work or decision-making.
• Low quality of life in economic, social, and physical terms.
• A lack of appreciation that work brings obligations as well as rewards.

Identifying the Problem

There are many ways of viewing the sick leave problem, and each instance has its own individual nature. Therefore, finding a standard solution that works for all situations is impractical. So, start by investigating the causes of above-average sick leave in your company. This will help you design the interventions that are most likely to be successful.

Stopping the Trend

To start improving the situation, apply some of the management principles discussed in our articles on Creating Job Satisfaction   and Working with Purpose   . Also, use some of these guidelines to further minimize unnecessary sick days:

• Become aware of, and responsive to, subtle indications of worker unhappiness or tension.
• Offer rewards for zero absenteeism.
• Carefully educate new hires about company policies. If policies change, make sure that you educate everyone on these.
• Research and discover new methods for reducing physical stress that workers may suffer on the job – for example, where they're standing all day, or performing repetitive movements.
• Provide training for managers and supervisors so they can deal perceptively and effectively with staff who have a lot of unexplained sick leave.
• Offer opportunities for in-house exercise.
• Consider giving workers additional days off, as part of their annual benefits, that are specifically for "preventive health care."
• Be flexible about allowing workers to make up time they've taken off for a legitimate reason – for example, to care for a sick family member. If people have the "responsible" option to make up a lost day by working a few extra hours each day in the following week, rather than using up their valuable vacation time, they may not feel the need to take a sick day.

These solutions consider the workers' needs, and they also help ensure that your team will be more enthusiastic and dedicated in return.

To approach the issue proactively, you not only want to seek the cause of the overall problem, but also consider individual cases. The best way to avoid abuse of your sick policy is usually to promote an attitude of compassion – workers should feel as though their well-being matters to you. So, to reduce absenteeism, make company policies clear. Be available to answer any questions – and also offer workshops that teach staff how to take personal responsibility for improving their lives.

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Unfortunately, however, despite your best efforts to encourage a responsible attitude toward sick leave, you may encounter an employee or two who are indeed abusing the system. Examples include consistently calling in sick right before, or after, a long weekend break, booking off time whenever the workload increases, or suddenly coming down with a cold whenever there's a fresh dump of powder at the local ski hill. Dealing with these employees requires a very systematic approach. Many jurisdictions have a lot of case law on sick leave and disciplinary approaches related to it.

• Start by developing a comprehensive sick leave policy and monitor sick leave for all employees. Use the tips above to draft a policy that will work for your organization.
• Apply the policy equally to everyone. For instance, you can't require doctor's notes from some and not from others.
• Be careful of human rights issues related to sick leave. Again this can be a minefield of legislative issues.

If you take a consistent, firm, and compassionate approach to sick leave management, you should be able to deal effectively with the employees who do seem to be taking advantage. As with all employee feedback issues, communicate your expectations clearly, and follow through. Working together to find a solution allows you to address the problem and enhance employee commitment and engagement.